Gifted Jaguars and Eagles

Dear DA parents, We are making a change - DA STEM will be housed at Jefferson next year.  It will still be open to Kennedy students but it will be taught by Jefferson staff.  We are transitioning to a 4 year program instead of a 2 year program with an emphasis on Advanced Placement (AP) as opposed to Normandale Community College (NCC) classes.   We are making this change after 6 years of doing our program at NCC.  Current 9th graders will get to finish their program but our next cohort will not start at NCC.  We feel these changes will allow us to better meet the needs of our gifted students. We are going to build towards the following scope and sequence:   Math Science 9 th Graders Honors Algebra II/ Honors PreCalc AP Environmental Science/  AP Computer Science Principles 10th Graders AP Calc BC AP Physics C  11th Graders AP Stats/Probability & Adv. Stats Topics AP Chemistry 12th Graders AP Computer Science A/ Calc III AP Biology

We have a change in our Dimensions Academy High School (DAHS) model that we are excited to share with you! This model involves bringing the STEM portion to Jefferson High School and keeping the DA Humanities portion at Kennedy High School. Students will have the opportunity to be in a cohort to take college level courses at college pacing with support from the Gifted and Talented Dept.  We will use a dual campus model in order for students at both high schools to access either or both programs.  Families interested in potentially having their 9th grader participate in either or both DAHS pathways are invited to come to one of the upcoming informational meetings:  *Thursday, December 12th at 6:30 pm at Kennedy High School in the Media Center *Tuesday, January 14th at 6:30 pm at Oak Grove Middle School auditorium *Tuesday, January 21st at 6:30 pm at Jefferson High School in the Media Center Also, our DA HS application due date is moved back one week to Friday , January

Soon we will host presenters from Camp Rising Sun on Tuesday, December 17th at 6:30 p.m. at Kennedy High School in the Media Center . Over the past several years, a number of students from the Bloomington Public Schools have been awarded this prestigious scholarship including Tuan Dinh (KHS), Ebba Wako (JHS) and Isabella Marker (JHS).   Go to this website ( http://www.lajf.org/ ) for information on this extraordinary camp. The camp boasts an international flavor combined with personal development experience.  In addition, there is NO COST to attend this camp for those students who are selected. Camp Rising Sun is well established, and has been around for over 70 years. Many of the people who have attended the camp have become leaders in their communities and their countries. Camp Rising Sun is looking for students who are intelligent, well-rounded, with outstanding moral character, an appreciation of diversity and individual abilities, a leader amongst their peers, and willing to